Bertram Goodhue (April 28, 1869-April 23, 1924) was a major American architect who worked in a wide variety of styles and had important commissions from New England to Hawaii. He was known not only for his many prestigious Gothic Revival style church designs but also for edifices in Spanish Revival and other exotic modes. The son of Charles Wells Goodhue and Helen Grosvenor Goodhue, Bertram came from modest circumstances but he soon rose to prominence. In 1884 he moved to New York City, where he apprenticed with the architectural firm of Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell. He soon moved to Boston, where he met architect Ralph Adams Cram, with whom he formed a prolific and prestigious business partnership that continued for more than twenty years and attracted a stellar clientele. Cram left to begin his own practice in 1914. Cram was a devoted Gothicist, while Goodhue moved into a wider variety of styles, of which the towering State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, is among the most famous.

Cram and Goodhue’s commissions in North Carolina included two churches and a private residence. The two Gothic Revival churches were for Episcopal congregations located in growing and taste-conscious cities: St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Durham and Trinity Episcopal Church in Asheville and Durham. Especially interesting is the correspondence between the firm and William H. Lord, the prominent Asheville architect who was also involved with the design and construction of Trinity Episcopal Church. References suggest that Goodhue was directly involved. The Strudwick house commission took place during the Cram-Goodhue partnership; some accounts credit it chiefly to Cram. Cram continued to take commissions in North Carolina after Goodhue left their partnership.

William H. Lord Collection, University of North Carolina at Asheville.

“Bertram Goodhue” in Wikipedia.